The American Society ofMechanical Engineers

Designates the Owens “AR”Bottle Machine As AnInternational HistoricEngineering Landmark

May 17, 1983

American manufacturers produce anestimated 46 billion glass containersannually for domestic use, averaging 200containers for every man, woman, andchild in the United States. In addition,approximately 288 million bottles areshipped abroad.

The average American home is filledwith glass jars and bottles, containingeverything from food and beverages, topharmaceuticals, household products,toiletries, and cosmetics. In fact, the arrayof uses is so vast, and the supply socheap and plentiful, that Americans andpeople the world over take them forgranted.

Few people realize that this has onlybeen the situation for the last eightyyears. Fewer still know that Michael J.Owens, who started his career in a glassfactory in Wheeling, W. Va., at the age of10, is largely responsible for the safety,standardization, quality, and convenienceof glass containers which millions ofconsumers around the world purchaseevery day.

Mike Owens’ invention of theautomatic bottle-making machine in 1903was the most significant advance in glassproduction in over 2000 years. The originof glass making is lost in antiquity,although historians speculate that thebasic process may have been discoveredaccidentally by Phoenician sailors whorested their cooking pots on lumps ofsoda ash over a fire built on a sandyshore.

After this nebulous beginning, thepeople of the Eastern Mediterranean arecredited with the discovery of the blow-pipe in approximately 300 B.C. Methodsof creating glassware changed littlebetween then and 1608 A.D., when JohnSmith established a glass factory as thefirst industry in North America at James-town.

In the nineteenth century glasswarewas still produced by human skill andlung power. Working in “shops” of threeskilled glass blowers with three or fourboys serving as helpers, craftsmen useda blowpipe and a few crude tools tocreate glasses, jars, bottles, bowls, andvases.

To produce relatively uniformcontainers for beverages, food, drugs,and other products, glass workers learnedto use metal molds. For example, a bottlewas produced by gathering a “gob” ofmolten glass on the end of a blow pipeand lowering the glowing mass into amold. By blowing into the pipe, the glassworker formed a bubble that conformedto the sides of the mold. After the glasswas removed from the mold, the neckand shoulder of the bottle was finishedwith hand tools.

Mechanization of the glass industryoccurred in the latter part of theIndustrial Revolution due to problemswith the physical properties of glass andthe dexterity and flexibility of the handworker. But the increasing demand forbottles by major packaged-goodsmanufacturers was a strong stimulus to

develop a mechanical means of producingglassware.

Inventors in the United States, theUnited Kingdom, France, and Germanytried to create a bottle-making machine.The earliest known bottle-makingmachine patent, dated March 17, 1859,was issued to Alexander Mein of theUnited Kingdom. British inventors JosiahC. Arnall, H.M. Ashley, and J.R. Windmill,as well as Americans Philip Arbogast, andJames S. and Thomas B. Atterbury, allpatented semi-automatic bottle machinesin the late 1800’s.

Each of these machines requiredthree skilled workman and two boys tooperate. Although the designs were notcompletely commercially successful, asthe development of the semi-automaticmachines continued, reducing thenumber of workers necessary to operatethem and increasing the rate of produc-tion, their popularity grew. Only 20

A shop of men and boys at theLibbey Glass Company plant in1910 made glass light bulbs byhand. Three years later light bulbswere being made by the Westlakeautomatic light bulb-blowingmachine which was modeled afterthe successful Owens automaticbottle machine.

machines were in operation in 1897,compared to 250 eight years later.

The Owens machine was the logicalextension of the semi-automaticmachines. Mike Owens, whose inven-tions were financed by EdwardDrummond Libbey, produced the firstcommercially successful, fully automaticbottle-making machine in 1903, a goaltowards which inventors had been work-ing for more than 40 years. His machinecould make bottles quicker, cheaper, andbetter than the semi-automatics.

Edward Drummond Libbey, movedhis New England Glass Works fromEast Cambridge, Mass., to Toledo in1888, renaming it the Libbey GlassCo. in 1892. His business enterprisesmade Toledo the “glass capital ofthe world.”

This diagram of the Owens suctiondevice was drawn by RichardLaFrance, Owens’ chief engineerfrom 1910 to 1927. Christened the“bicycle pump,” the device provedthat glass could be mechanicallygathered and blown to form abottle.

Owens had already developedsemi-automatic machines to manufacturelight bulbs, drinking glasses, and lampchimneys. However, all of thesemachines still required that the glass begathered by hand for each piece and ona separate blow pipe, just as in the oldhand practice.

In 1899, Owens turned his attentionto the biggest challenge of all—a fullyautomated machine. The greatestobstacle was finding a way to machine-gather the glass in the proper quantities.His ingenious solution, christened the“bicycle pump” because that is what itresembled both in form and function,gathered the glass by suction.

Withdrawing the piston rod on thecrude hand pump created a vacuum thatsucked up a charge of glass into a moldwhich formed the neck of the bottle.Suspended by the neck, the gather wasthen placed in a body mold, where thereturn stroke of the plunger blew theglass into the proper shape.

The first attempts to blow a bottlewith the “bicycle pump” yieldeddistorted “freaks,” but successive triesproduced a perfect four-ouncepetroleum jelly jar. With the principleproven, work proceeded on theconstruction of a complete machine.

In 1903, the machine and a speciallydesigned revolving gathering “pot” wereready for trial. This machine, calledNumber “4,” had five of the “bicyclepumps” known as heads or arms mountedon a circular rotating frame. Each of theseheads was a complete unit which dippedindividually to suction up its gather of glassas it passed over the pot. Each head car-ried a blank mold, a neck mold and plungerfor forming the neck, and a finishing mold.

In its first test, the number “4” madeeight pint beer bottles a minute. What wasremarkable about this test was not onlydid this machine make a satisfactory bottle,but a narrow-necked one. Previously eventhe semi-automatics were confined to theproduction of wide-mouthed ware.

The first commercial model, offeredin 1905 for production and license, wasthe “A.” This design used the experiencegained in production runs and demonstra-tions of the number “4.” The model “A”carried six heads each with the same blankmold, neck mold and plunger, and finishingmold of the number “4.” but the “A” wasbuilt much more ruggedly. The parts wereoperated by stationary cams attached tothe framework. The entire revolvingmachine oscillated up and down each timewhen a head came in contact with themolten glass to suction another gather.

The “A” machine could manufacturetwelve pint bottles per minute or 17,280in a 24-hour period. This compared withapproximately 2,880 produced in a day’stime by a shop of six men and boys. Themachine was operated by two men on12-hour shifts at a cost of 10 to 12 centsper gross. Hand blown bottles cost $1.80per gross to produce.

Producing bottles in such largequantities required a new method of

annealing, or tempering. Bottles allowedto cool too quickly shatter easily; thefunction of an annealing lehr is to providea controlled environment where theglassware cools gradually. Instead ofboys carrying the bottles to the lehr, anautomatic conveyor was devised. Thefinished glassware was discharged ontoan automatic conveyor, and slowly passedthrough a long heated tempering oven.

After the machine had been kept inoperation long enough to insure that itwas a commercial success, Libbey,Owens, William S. Walbridge, ClarenceBrown, and Frederick L. Geddes formedthe Owens Bottle Machine Company forthe purpose of building and licensingbottle-making machines. They also appliedfor the patent rights in all of the coun-tries outside the U.S. where glass wasmade, and formed the Owens EuropeanBottle Machine Company in 1905 forthese international operations.

Within a few years, Owensmachines were in production in England,Germany, Holland, Austria, Sweden,France, Denmark, Italy, Norway,Hungary, Scotland, Ireland, and Japan.Patent rights had also previously beensold for Canada and Mexico.

The “A” machine remained the stan-dard until 1908 when the “AC” modelwas developed with a longer coolingtime which prevented distortion fromdischarging the bottles prematurely. The1909 “AD” model was the first to have10 heads, but the greater weight of themachine caused more vibration as it dippedup and down. That same year, the “AE”machine was developed with a redesignedbase accommodating an improved coolingsystem for the molds. Another, sturdierversion, “AL,” was built in 1911 to pro-duce gallon packers.

However, one chief problemremained—the constant dipping of theentire machine which limited the speedat which it could produce bottles as wellas causing excessive wear and vibration.In 1912, an entirely new design, by Owensand Richard LaFrance, the “AN,” featuredindividually dipping suction molds operatedby cams, which eliminated the problem.

The new “diphead” model had 10arms and produced bottles ranging froma fraction of an ounce to around eight-ounce capacities. The “AN” was intendedto make prescription ware, which re-quired higher manufacturing speeds thanhad been possible with the previousslower models.

It also had improved air and vacuumdistribution systems, and adjustments oneach head permitted 10 different, butsimilar, bottles to be manufactured. Theimproved design increased the speed ofthe machine to an average of 50 bottlesa minute, or approximately 72,000 a day,with a maximum of 86,400 a day forhalf-ounce bottles.

Early bottles produced on the OwensMachine. The bottle on the left bearsthe date November 29, 1899.

The first commercial “A” Owensbottle machine was developed in1903. It produced an unprece-dented nine bottles a minute.

Also designed and built in 1912 wasthe original “AR” machine. Generally, itwas an enlargement of the “AN,” adaptedto manufacture bottles of greater weightand capacity than prescription ware, suchas beer and catsup bottles. It had anaverage production of 50,400 bottles perday.

The result of nine years of ex-perimental and commercial design, thelarger “AR” was less limited in the designof molds, and permitted greater cooling

facilities. Improvements extended itsrange from prescription ware to gallonpackers, making it a general purposemachine. It entirely replaced the out-dated “AD” and “AE” machines, andeven displaced the limited “AN” design.

The “AR” design was enlarged toaccommodate 15 arms, resulting in the“AQ” machine in 1914. It was identical tothe “AR” except for the larger frame andadditional heads, producing the samerange of bottles, only in greater quan-tities. The development of plural cavitymolds further increased the productionof these models.

Between the years 1905 and 1926,317 Owens bottle-making machines wereput into production, with 64 shippedabroad. This included models “A,” “AC,”“AD,” “AE,” “AL,” “AN,” “AQ” and “AV.” Inaddition, 119 “AR” machines were manu-factured between 1912 and 1941, with 28shipped overseas.

In 1923, just 20 years after thesuccessful trial of the number 4 machine,a study commissioned by the NationalAssociation of Bottle Manufacturersreported that 94 out of every 100 bottlesin the U.S. were being made by machinery—either semi-automatic or automatic.

The Owens machine not onlyrevolutionized the glass industry, but hada great impact on society. The bottle-making machine drastically reduced theprice of glass containers, making themreadily available to the public for packagingand preserving food and beverages,pharmaceuticals, household cleaners, andother products.

The Owens machine made asuperior quality product, producing glasscontainers that were more uniform inweight and content than those madeeither by hand or semi-automaticmachines. This had two far-reachingeffects. First, the government was able toestablish standard specifications and re-quirements through the Pure Food andDrug Administration that helpedsafeguard health as well as guaranteeinga specific measure of product in thecontainer. In addition, the uniform heightand capacity of the Owens-made bottlesallowed high-speed packing and fillinglines to be developed.

Owens’ invention also ended childlabor in the glass industry. The longapprenticeships and carefully guardedtrade secrets of glass blowing madeit one of the most highly paid craftsof the nineteenth century. To reducecosts, glass manufacturers hired boys toassist the skilled workers. In 1880, whenglass blowers were earning $200 amonth, 6000 boys between the ages of10 and 15, constituting one quarter of thetotal work force, worked 10-hour daysfor as little as 30 cents a day.

The Owens Company received aletter in 1913 from the National ChildLabor Committee of New York City com-mending the Owens machine. Theyreported that the rapid introduction ofthe automatic machine did more toeliminate child labor than they had beenable to do through legislative efforts.

Glass manufacturing was one of thefirst automated industries. Since theOwens machine was really six, 10, or 15identical machines amassed into onelarge one, the Owens Company massproduced interchangeable parts, aprinciple pioneered just a few yearsearlier at General Motors.

Over the years, the A-seriesmachines continued in service, producingbottles for commercial use. The last twoOwens machines in production, l5-arm“AQ” models, were operated at Gas City,Indiana, until December 17, 1982.

Today, Owens-Illinois, Inc., formed in1929 by the merger of the Owens BottleCompany and the Illinois Glass Company,is one of the world’s leading manufac-turers of packaging materials, with annualsales approaching $4 billion.

O-I is a leading producer of glass andplastic containers; plastic and metalclosures; glass tableware; Kimble® glassand plastic laboratory products; tele-vision bulbs; package labels; multi-pakcarriers; and corrugated shippingcontainers.

The company also has an equityinvestment in Health Group Inc., arapidly growing private hospital man-agement company operating 38 facili-ties with more than 4,200 beds.

Owens-Illinois owns or has aninterest in 200 facilities in theUnited States and in 22 foreigncountries. The company is listedon the New York Stock Exchangeand is one of the 30 firms whichmake up the Dow Jones Indus-tria1 Average. Corporate head-quarters are located in Toledo,Ohio.

Bottles produced on the earlyOwens machines.

The 1912 “AR” model was themost versatile of the first Owensmachines developed, with the abilityto produce bottles ranging in sizefrom prescription ware to gallonpackers.

Michael Joseph OwensMichael Joseph Owens was bornJanuary 1, 1859, in Mason County, WestVirginia. His parents immigrated to theUnited States from County Wexford,Ireland, in the 1840’s and his father foundwork in the coal mines of West Virginia.

To help support their large family,Mike went to work at a glass factory inWheeling in 1869 when he was only 10years old. Working ten hours a day gavehim little time to acquire a forma1 educa-tion. Hardy and industrious, he used hislunch hours and break periods to prac-tice blowing glassware, using the tech-niques he had observed as he assisted theglass workers.

Two years before he died, Owensrecalled those early days for journalistKeene Sumners, “In the factory, I wentthrough all the jobs which boys per-formed; and I enjoyed every bit of theexperience. I wanted to learn everythingthere was to be learned.”

He began at age 10 by shovelingcoal into the furnace, called “firing in theglory hole.” At 11 he was a “carry-in boy,”transferring newly-blown glassware to theannealing lehr, and at 12 a “carry-out boy”taking the cooled glass out. He alsoworked as a “mold hold boy,” opening andclosing the mold for the master blower,and as a gatherer, skillfully collecting a“gob” of glass on the end of a blowpipe.

It is ironic that the man who iscredited with eliminating child labor inthe industry, remembered his own earlyyears in the glass factory with greatfondness. His attitude was that as long asa person had enough food and properrest that “work never hurt anyone.”

By the time he was 15 he hadmastered the glass-blowing process andworked side by side with adult glassblowers. He had spent 18 years workingin glass factories before he joined EdwardDrummond Libbey in 1888 at the NewEngland Glass Works in Toledo, Ohio.

With the faith and support of Libbey,Owens’ inventive genius realized itspotential. Libbey’s belief in Owens wassuch that he backed him financially dur-ing long years of tria1 and error beforesuccess was reached. Owens was persis-tent, experimenting until solutions tovarious engineering problems could bedevised.

Lacking forma1 education ortechnical training, Owens surroundedhimself with a talented engineering staffthat helped to make his visions reality.He hired William Emil Bock to build the“bicycle pump” which proved theworkability of the theory. When Bockshowed Owens his first set of blueprints,Owens was unable to understand themand told him simply to “put it in iron.”

Bock and C. William Schwenzfeierused Owens’ original design concepts tobuild the “A” bottle-making machine.Richard LaFrance became Bock’s assis-tant in 1901 and succeeded him as chiefof engineering in 1910. As the company’ssuccess grew, so did the engineeringstaff.

Although Owens could not build themachines by himself, he could graphicallydescribe the design concepts to hisengineers. He would sketch his ideas ona blackboard, allowing the engineers towork out the details.

Once the machine was built, hecould easily tell what was wrong withit—the molds were holding the bottle toolong or the glass hadn’t cooled enoughbefore discharge. He had a uniqueand unorthodox role as an inventor,because his lack of technical trainingprevented him from personally beingable to build machines in the same wayhe had mastered glass-working.

LaFrance, who worked with Owensfor 22 years, described their relationship,“Owens was an inventor. He was nodesigner, but could direct engineers. Helet them use their own designs usuallywithout interference. He did not inventmechanisms. He decided on methods.He knew a good or bad design when hesaw the finished machine and could seefaults in engineering and make sugges-tions when he saw a machine operate. Iconsidered him to have an engineeringmind and discussed problems with himand was glad to get decisions.”

A modest man, Owens once summedup his role as the inventor of the bottle-making machine, “The basic ideas weremine. The patents are in my name. Butthe achievement is like the machineitself. That has thousands of parts, eachrepresenting someone who has had ahand in it.”

In education as well as invention,Owens was largely a self-made man. Hestudied nights and joined a debating clubto help him learn to speak effectively. Hewas known later in life to be an especiallytalented and convincing orator.

Owens’ enthusiasm for work continuedthroughout his life, even during his lastyears when his health began to fail. Heattended a meeting of the board ofdirectors of the Owens Bottle Company(the Word “Machine” was deleted in 1919because the company had started pro-ducing bottles as well as the machinesthat made them) on the morning ofDecember 27, 1923, requesting morefunds to develop his latest project.Around noon he asked to be excusedfor a moment and left the room. Hecollapsed in the hallway and was takento an adjacent office where he died of aheart attack a short time later.

Michael J. Owens, sixth from left,posed for this photo with othermembers of the original organizationof the Owens Bottle Machine Co.Mr. Owens credited much of the suc-cess for the development of theOwens bottle machine to engineerswho could translate his ideas“into iron.”

About The Landmarks...The Owens Automatic “AR” Bottle Machineis the thirteenth International Historic MechanicalEngineering Landmark to be designated sincethe program began in 1973. Since then, sixty-fiveNational and six Regional Landmarks have beenrecognized by the Society. Each represents aprogressive step in the evolution of mechanicalengineering and each reflects its influence onsociety.

The Landmarks program illuminates ourtechnological heritage and serves to encouragethe preservation of the physical remains ofhistorically important works. It provides anannotated roster for engineers, students,educators, historians and travelers, and helpsestablish persistent reminders of where we havebeen, where we are, and where we are goingalong the divergent paths of discovery.

The Northwest Ohio Section gratefullyacknowledges the efforts of all who participatedon the landmark designation of the OwensAutomatic “AR” Bottle Machine, particularly theofficers and staff of Owens-Illinois, Inc.

The American Society of MechanicalEngineersDr. Serge Gratch, PresidentBluford L. Moor, Jr., Vice President, Region VCharles F. Hufler, Region V History & Heritage

The ASME Northwest Ohio SectionNorman Zaenglein, ChairmanMarvin Himmelein, Vice ChairmanRandy Bascom, SecretaryDan Robins, TreasurerC. Van Anderson, History & Heritage

The ASME National History & HeritageCommitteeDr. R. Carson Dalzell, ChairmanDr. Richard S. HartenbergDr. J. Paul HartmanDr. Edwin T. Layton, Jr.Dr. Merritt Roe SmithRobert M. Vogel, Curator

Smithsonian Institution.Dr. Robert B. Gaither

International Landmarks� Cooperative Fuel Research Engine, Waukesha, WI.� Holt Caterpillar Track-Type Tractor, Stockton, CA.� 100-Inch Telescope, Mount Wilson, Pasadena, CA.� Edison Experimental Recording Phonograph, West Orange, NJ.� Le Creusot Steam Hammer, Creusot, France.� Rotating-Arm Model—Test Facility, Hoboken, NJ.� Steam Turbine Yacht Turbinia, Newcastle-upon-

Tyne, England.� The Newcomen Steam-Atmospheric Engine,

Dartmouth, England.� FMC Continuous Rotary Pressure Sterilizer, Santa Clara, CA.� Corning Ribbon Machine, Corning, NY.� FMC Whole Juice Extractor, Lakeland, FL.� Shoreside Container Handling Crane, San Francisco, CA.� OwensAutomatic “AR” Bottle Machine, Toledo, OH.